Improvement in floor-coverings, roofs



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID LUDWIG WOLFI, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, MATTHIASPONOELET, AND HENRY NASS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FLOOR-COVERINGS, ROOFS, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,128, dated June 20,1871; antedated June 6, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1., DAVID LUDWIG WoLFr,

' of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ing fabricated as the feltbecomes dry I apply to one or both surfaces a coating of thick pastemade of wheat flour, starch, and water. After .the paste is dry I smooththe surface by means of a hot iron passed over it by hand or by means ofsuitablemaohinery. I then apply a coat or film of gutta-p'ercha by anysuitable means. Over this gutta-percha I apply a coat of oil-paint, andafter this latter becomes dry I smooth or polish the side which is to beuppermost by pumice-stone or its equivalent. This polished surface Ithen ornament by painting, printing, or otherwise applying theretofanciful figures or designs, and I then cover and protect thisornamentation with a coat of varnish.

The floor-covering thus produced is soft and noiseless to the tread, andis Water-proof, sothat it can be washed'and cleaned at will. As thefabric may receive precisely the same figure as a carpet, and as it issoft and pliable so that the figures will not wear away as on hardoil-cloth, it will be seen that it combines all the advantages of bothcarpet and oil-cloth without the objectionable features of either.

The sheets or lengths of my covering may be applied to the floor edge toedge and fastened by tacks, or the two edges may be cemented firmly byplacing small strips or ribbons of gutta-percha between them and passingaheated iron over the same. The gutta-percha for this purpose, as alsothat for coating the surface, should be taken in a raw condition andboiled several hours and then cast into any convenient form. Whenrequired for use it is softened by heat, and then applied in any desiredmanner and by any suitable means.

In preparing the roofing-felt I take a somewhat lighter or thinner feltand applythepaste,

gutta-percha, and first coat of paint 'in the same manner as for theroofing material, but

do not polishthe coat of paint. After apply- I apply, as the finishingoperation, a coat of silicate of soda, or, as it is commonly known,liquid or water-glass. When this has become dry the felt will be foundboth fire and waterproof.

It may be applied to the roofs and walls of buildings, to the decks andhulls of vessels, and to numerous other places. flexibility andelasticity it is afi'ected by neither heat nor cold, and consequentlymakes a very lasting and durable roof.

The felt may be nailed or tacked fast or fastened by cement, the edgesof the sheets being in either case lapped past each other.

A very useful cement, which will fasten the felt firmly to wood, stone,iron, and glass, may

be made by boiling together the following ingredients: White lead,ground in oil, one pound; white lead, dry, eight ounces; silverlitharge, one and one-half ounce; red lead,

eight ounces; linseed-oil, one-half pint; the whole, after beingthoroughly boiled and mixed, to be cast into sticks or other convenientform.

When required for use it is softened by applying heat.

The roofing-felt may also be applied for the purpose of stopping orclosing leaky places in the hulls of vessels. When used for this purposeit is best secured by a compound of the above-described cement andgutta-percha taken in equal arts. j

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is-- As a new articleof manufacture, the roofing or flooring felt, prepared substantially asherein described. DAVID LUDWIG .WOLFF.

' Witnesses:

MATHIAS PONOELET, HENRY NASS.

Owing to its

